Ben leaned back in the passenger seat and sighed. They'd left the city this morning in search of some "nature," as Ray put it. However, most of the "nature" they'd found consisted of the highly manicured kind found at the sides of routes and highways, with only the rare, tiny swatch of land left wild. Mostly they saw asphalt, concrete, homes, and strip malls. But Ben didn't mind at all, not with warm sunlight and nearly fresh air streaming through the open windows on this golden afternoon.

The sunshine coming in limned Ray with light, shining off his hair and sunglasses, making his white T-shirt glow. The sleeves were short enough that Ben received occasional, teasing glimpses of his tattoo. He looked relaxed and utterly in control behind the wheel, hands lightly drumming on it in time to the music. He'd complained at first about the lack of "decent" music on the local stations but had since located a station that played some songs he liked or at least remembered fondly from his childhood. They weren't always songs Ben would have expected from Ray either.

Ray sang along softly but with great enthusiasm to various decades-old songs of heartbreak and hopeless love, violating the morose lyrics with his glee. "*Walk right back* to me this minute / Bring yer love to me, don't spend it / I'm so lonesome every day..."

Ben couldn't resist, so he didn't try. His hand settled in a highly proprietary manner on Ray's thigh, stroking the layer of thin, worn-soft denim that sheathed his leg. He felt warm skin through small holes.

Ray kept his eyes on the road but a smile as slow and darkly sweet as honey made his thoughts plain. The way he shifted in his seat and the sudden swell of his cock against the whitened fabric at his crotch helped as well.

"You sure you wanna be doing that while I'm driving?" Ray purred. He even sounded like honey.

"Am I distracting you?"

"Oh hell, no."

"Maybe I should stop just in case."

It amused Ben to see Ray looking so torn. As much as crashing the car and injuring or killing them both had no appeal, the right touch tended to focus one's thinking in the immediate moment. Ben removed his hand.

"Tease." A sudden sound from the backseat made Ray check his rearview mirror and smile. "A dog's life ain't bad."

"Diefenbaker! You'll injure your eyes doing that. It will leave you blind as well as deaf, and then where will you be?"

"I'd stick my head out the window too if I could. Nice day for it. Used to do it as a kid."

"That explains a great many things."

"Oh, yer funny."

Diefenbaker chose that moment to show his affection for Ray by licking Ray's ear. Ray tried to push him away with one hand. "Hey! The two of you... yer gonna get us killed. Or worse. I can just see it. When the cop pulls me over to ask why I'm driving like I'm having seizures, I'll just tell him I have a half-wolf making out with me from the back seat when my Mountie boyfriend isn't doing it from the passenger seat. I'm sure that'll make everything okay."

"I'm inclined to think he wouldn't believe you."

"I'm inclined to think that too. Hey, lookit that place. Huge. It's the pet store of the gods. You said Dief needed food, right? Maybe we can get him some toys too."

"Ray, he's my companion, not a pet. You know that."

"Yeah, but ya probably don't say the same thing about me.... Look, I didn't mean get him some toys in some kind of looking- down-on-him doggy way. People like toys too, 'cause they're fun." Ray lowered his voice to a purr. "I know *you* like 'em."

Amazing how Ray could still make him blush sometimes. Ben fought back. "I hope you don't intend to get Dief the kind of toys we like."

Ray barked out a laugh. "Uh, no. Definitely no, and yer an evil Mountie for putting thoughts in my head."

"Far be it from me to try."

"My, oh my, aren't we the little snarkmeister today? I just wanna stop here."

"I must say that your conception of what constitutes a tourist attraction never fails to amaze me."

"I stop for yer freaky-ass places. This one's practical. Besides, I'm driving."

"Right you are, Ray. Excellent grasp of the obvious."

Ray stuck his tongue at Ben, who merely gave his partner a look suggesting that much better things could be done with that tongue. Ray grinned.

******************************************************

Ray smiled even wider as he watched Ben walk through the parking lot beside him. His partner looked loose and relaxed, the Mountie iron rod removed from his ass. Wearing civilian clothes had to help that, but still, their little road trip seemed to be working out just fine.

Ray looked at Dief trotting happily beside them and said, "They're not gonna want to let Dief in without a leash on 'im."

"I'm sure they can be persuaded if I can assure them that he'll behave."

"Sure, but I just wanted you to know you should start revving up that Mountie charm. And that it'd probably be a mistake to tell 'em Dief's a wolf."

Ben tipped his Stetson to Ray. "Understood."

"Oh hey, hold up a moment." Ray put his money in one of the vending machines just outside the door and got a tiny, neon green ball. His first shot got a very high bounce, and he had to rescue it from an over-enthusiastic Diefenbaker. "Stop it, guy. I know you'll put anything in yer mouth, just like yer, uh, companion over there."

"You had no complaints last night."

"True, but at least I know you won't swallow the Superball here." Ray gave Ben a look to see if any comments about what else he'd swallow were forthcoming. In the face of innocent-looking eyes and silence, Ray gave it another bounce and said, "I haven't had one of these in forever. They're cool."

Ben coughed and muttered, "Easily amused," just loud enough for Ray to hear.

"Just you see if yer getting any later after this. 'Easily amused' is better than the alternative." Ray bounced the tiny ball again as they continued walking and grinned. "You didn't have anything like this as a kid?"

"I mainly had books. They didn't bounce very well."

"Eh. Ya just weren't doing it right, then. Damn, this place is huge. And here comes the concerned employee, right on schedule." Ray pocketed his ball.

"Sir, I have to ask you to please leash your dog," a young woman in the store's uniform said.

Ray left before Ben even started his spiel. He'd seen Ben and Diefenbaker flirt too many people around to their way of thinking too many times for it to even be much fun anymore. Besides, another vending machine caught his attention. It engraved any words you wanted onto pet ID tags in less than a minute for only a few dollars, though you had to pay the money at the counter and use tokens for the machine. Ray grinned, seeing possibilities.

"Ray?" Ben walked up, Diefenbaker at his side, a starry-eyed young woman left behind. "We are now free to shop."

"Gotcha. If we're getting food for His Highness, I better get us a cart. And, y'know, we better keep him away from the turtles."

"He is *not* interested in your turtle."

"Yeah? Maybe he just likes to play it cool, y'know? Maybe they're actually having this big guerilla war when yer not looking."

"That's just silly, Ray." Even Ben looked impressed by the size of the place, but he tried to cover it. "We should get him the diet food." Despite having no possible way of looking at Fraser's face to read his lips, Diefenbaker moaned as if asking if that were truly necessary. "Considering the items you supplement your diet with, I think it's very necessary."

Ray felt kind of bad for Dief, but it was better to have Dief be on the receiving end of Fraser at his prissiest than him.

After they put some bags of dog food and a rawhide bone or two in the cart, Ray went looking for some toys for the furry guy, but he didn't see anything that he thought Dief would like. But he *had* to get Dief something after he'd put himself on the line about toys earlier. It sucked.

Something obscenely soft brushed his cheek, making him shiver, and he batted at it with the back of his hand before turning around fast. Grinning, looking far too hungry, Ben held a long black stick tipped with deep blue feathers. A cat toy. He swiped it against Ray's cheek again.

It felt really nice.

Ray grabbed the stick and put it in the cart.

However, Ray quickly bypassed the aisle that had the collars, leashes, and choke collars because he didn't want to go there. Not when it was so tempting. Maybe someday Ray would get to see his fantasy of Ben with a collar around his neck, but he wasn't ready yet....

As they walked, a familiar and tantalizing scent drew Ray toward the far end of the store. It seemed to have the same influence on Ben, who followed. When they reached the second to last aisle, Ben sighed, "Oh, yes."

They actually had horse gear at the store. Straps, saddles, metal, brand new leather.... Horseman that he was, Ben probably looked at all this gear in a different way; he was a Mountie after all. All this gear, especially the straps, made Ray think of mounting too, but horses had nothing to do with it. All this *leather*.... It gleamed with a low luster in the fluorescent light, and its thick, pungent, wonderful smell filled the air. It was like Ben's boots and belt concentrated and combined with even more fetishy gear. It made Ray want to slide to his knees in front of Ben right there. He didn't think he had a choice.

It nearly killed Ray when Ben started to touch and pull at the straps. "Oh God," Ray murmured.

Ben looked worried and a bit smug all at once. "Breathe, Ray."

"I am. That's sorta the whole problem here. I gotta go." Ray left the cart and walked quickly away, knowing full well that he'd get the hell teased out of him later.

Depending on the kind of teasing, it might be worth it.

******************************************************

Ben saw Ray again once he finished paying for their purchases. Ray looked very much embroiled in something involving a large machine in the corner. Hefting his bags, Ben walked over.

Ray had his bracelet unfastened and seemed to be putting something onto it, like a charm. When he refastened it around his wrist, a black circular tag hung from it.

Seeing what kind of machine it was, Ben asked, "An ID tag? Are you afraid you'll get lost, Ray?"

Ray's wrist flew behind his back where Ben couldn't see it. "Nah, not really. The machine lets you watch it engrave the tags. I had to see it, y'know?" But his too-casual posture and mischievous smile said, *Ask me about it. I wanna play*. "Let me take a bag?"

"Thank you, Ray." Even with Ray taking one, with the remaining two bags there would be no way for Ben to do what he wanted to do, not when Ray could move with a greased speed and flexibility on his best days. Patience would win out in the end.

"You get any of that horse riding stuff?"

"I don't currently have a horse."

"True, true. You get any of that riding stuff?"

Ben quickly changed the subject. "You didn't buy any toys for Diefenbaker?"

"If he was just a *pet* I could buy any old thing, but he's not, and there wasn't anything I thought he'd like, so no, I didn't. It sucked."

"Ah. I see."

"Yeah, well, there you are."

Ben let Ray think he was getting away with it for all of a minute before he said, "That was a good save, Ray. I'll give you points for that."

"Grr."

They loaded most of the bags into the backseat with Dief, but Ben kept one to bring up front. He smiled as he *felt* Ray's curiosity; it radiated from his partner in waves. Ray held his peace until they settled into their seats, then asked, "Whatcha got in the bag?"

As much fun as he had teasing Ray, Ben decided to be merciful this time. He immediately pulled a plush hedgehog out of the bag. Ray raised an eyebrow, instantly understanding why Ben had chosen the animal he had.

Ben decided to spell it out anyway. "Diefenbaker misses sleeping with me, so I decided to give him--"

"A spiky bed partner all his own? You better hope watching us didn't give him ideas."

Ben nearly choked. "Ray!"

"I had this friend whose tom cat thought her plush robe was another cat. She caught him with it a few times. You don't wanna know what he did to that robe."

"Then don't tell me."

"I couldn't help wondering how he decided what part of the robe was what."

"I'm not listening."

"But it's no fun when you don't listen."

"I know. In any case, the plush hedgehog--which Dief will not use as a canine version of a blow-up doll--"

Ray sputtered. "What thoughts you have."

"--squeaks when you squeeze it." Ben demonstrated.

"So do most things."

Sometimes Ray made it too easy. Ben grinned. "You don't say."

Ray realized his mistake only a second before Ben attacked. Ray made a number of interesting sounds, but Ben wouldn't stop until his tickling and stroking produced the proper squeaking. All the gasped "you bastards" certainly didn't count. It may not have been the right thing to feel, but Ben couldn't help the thrill of power that always came over him as Ray's wiry body trembled helpless under his fingers.

"What do you want?" Ray shrieked.

"A proper squeak, actually. Squeak for me, Ray."

"Freak!"

"Close but not quite."

"Dammit!" Ray kicked, slapped, and even tried to bite now and then before curling into a defensive ball, much like a hedgehog.

It also gave Ben the opportunity to take a look at the tag Ray had added to his bracelet. He gripped the bony wrist in one hand and turned the tag to read it with the other. "'RAY, BP.' I don't understand," Ben said.

"Don't you?" Ray gasped.

"What does it mean?"

"Well, 'RAY' is short for 'Raymond,' which is my middle name, my favorite name--"

"Ray."

"And 'BP' stands for something else. Yer the tickling demon; you figure it out. I was gonna tell ya, but you just had to get funny with yer hands and not in one of those good, mutually beneficial ways."

"Oh, you would not have."

"Well, now you'll never know. It's really easy to figure out, actually. Bastard." Ray straightened in his seat and stretched, revealing a peek of lightly tanned belly, inspiring thoughts of things they didn't dare do in a public parking lot.

"Tease."

"It was *yer* hands all over me, ya know. Now give Dief his toy like a good little Mountie." He sounded disgustingly self-satisfied at his success in getting Diefenbaker a toy after all.

Ben sighed. "Diefenbaker, this is for you." Dief wagged his tail madly in surprise and pleasure, but a hint of suspicion showed in his eyes. "It's not a trick. This truly is yours. I do buy things for you now and then. However, I want you to understand that this is a gift, a luxury. You shouldn't expect to be getting presents constantly."

Diefenbaker gave him a long, loving face lick before daintily closing his teeth on the back of the hedgehog's neck and carrying it into the backseat. Once there, he curled around it, sniffing it.

"Damn, that's cute," Ray said. "But if he starts humping it, I'm outta here. Hey, have ya gotten enough 'nature' yet?"

"Why?"

"Well, unless you want me to jump you right now in a public parking lot, I'm kind of anxious to get home. Besides, I keep thinking I smell leather in here, and it's killing me."

Ben grinned wickedly. "Home sounds wonderful."

******************************************************

Ben looked frustrated, but he was smiling a little too. "Blessed Protector?"

Ray snorted. "Blessed protector of what? Sounds nice, but nope."

"Best-- No, that would be BPO. Berry Picker?"

"Now yer just getting desperate." And Ray liked it when he could make Ben desperate. Desperate, impatient, and pleading looked really good on him in the right situation, which would be coming real soon.

Besides, Ray was worrying about his own case of blue balls. The urge to pull over into an alley somewhere and just pounce kept obsessing him.

"What is it, then?"

"That's not the proper way to ask," Ray said as he parked the GTO.

"Please tell me what 'BP' stands for, or I will kick you in the head."

"Suuuuuuuuure, ya will."

"I will."

"Would ya really?"

Ben kept his face still and menacing for all of one minute before he said, "No, not really."

"I'll tell you when the time is right."

Ben answered by stroking his hand all the way up Ray's leg before he got out of the car. He knew how to torture too.

They unloaded their loot from the car while Dief scampered out with his prized hedgehog carefully held in his teeth by the scruff of its neck. Damned if Ray didn't smell leather from one of Ben's bags. He'd find out what kind of leather thing was making that wonderful scent soon, or Ben would have hell to pay.

Ray lengthened his stride and put a little extra hip sway in every step as Ben followed him. He'd been patient through a whole hour of driving. With the way he suffered, he wanted to make sure Ben suffered too, wanted Ben to want as badly as he did. He wanted to make sure he got jumped the moment they were in his apartment. When Ray glanced back, the look on Ben's face told him he didn't have to try so hard.

As soon Ray locked the door behind them, he was spun around and pushed against it, pinned by the Mountie kneeling before him. Ben pushed his head in a stroking motion like a cat against the bulge in Ray's jeans and said, "It's time for you to tell me what I want to know."

The discomfort of the Superball in Ray's back pocket pushing into his ass from the way he was pressed into the door made only a small impression under the wave of lust he felt. "Uh, no." He still had the bags in his hands.

"I have ways of making you talk."

Ray could swear he felt Ben's hot breath through the old denim. The Stetson's brim rubbed against his stomach, pushing up the bottom of his T-shirt. "Not on the best day of yer life. Do yer worst."

Ben took off his hat and had Ray's fly unfastened in seconds. A few buttons must have seemed easy after all the fastenings he did and undid on his uniform every day. He breathed hotly for a few eternal moments on the cotton of Ray's briefs before pulling those down as well and latching onto his prize. Ray hit his head against the door and dropped his bags as Ben's greedy mouth took his cock in, working it with his tongue and the slight edge of the rather frightening teeth Ben had.

Oh, this was going to be fast, but fast could be damned good.

Ray's hands clenched on Ben's T-shirt as he moaned. Ben pulled away, to Ray's very vocal but incoherent protests, though he left his hands pinning Ray's hips to the door. "Are you ready to talk yet?" Ben asked sweetly.

Ray had a smart-assed remark ready about talking being the last thing Ben's actions were making him able to do, but he might never get that mouth back where it belonged if he said that. "No. I don't think yer trying hard enough," he gasped.

Ben grinned darkly. "Very well." Keeping Ray pinned with his hands, he just licked the tip of Ray's hard cock in varying strokes. Hard, light, hard, light, light, deep....

Too much, not *enough*.... "Hate you, *hate* you...." Ray groaned as he writhed. He grabbed Ben's head and pulled it forward, but Ben resisted, apparently having neck muscles of steel.

"Do you want something, Ray?"

"What do you think?" Ray could swear that his whole body vibrated with lust.

"Well, I want something too."

"No."

Ben took Ray's cock in deep then, so deep Ray's felt its head hit the back of his partner's throat. After a frustrated hour of thinking about jumping Ben in the car, that was all he needed to let go. God knew what his landlady thought about the sounds that came out of his apartment sometimes. Weak-kneed, Ray had to lean on his partner as Ben milked him utterly dry. Once Ben's mouth and hands no longer kept him upright, Ray finally slid down the door to the floor.

"You couldn't make me talk," Ray panted.

"I'm not finished." Ben picked Ray up and put him over his shoulder in a fireman's carry, then headed to the bedroom.

Ray really didn't like the rush of blood to his head as he hung upside down. "Hey! Careful! I got important parts dangling out here!" He could have struggled harder if he wanted to.

"I'm acutely aware of that. Don't worry, those parts are at least as important to me as they are to you."

"What kind of butch pills did you take today?"

Ben dumped Ray on the bed. "You know how focused I get when I have a mystery thrown in front of me."

"Yeah, like a dog with a bone." Just seeing the look that crossed Ben's face made the earlier painful head rush worth it. And people thought Ray was the one with the dirty mind.

"You could say that."

Still unzipped and hanging out all over, Ray sprawled invitingly. "I'm still not impressed with yer interrogation techniques."

"I'll simply have to try harder. Be right back."

"Ben!" Ray sighed as he heard the laughter in his living room. What a nut. Ben had to be at least as hard as Ray had been a few minutes ago, but he was still drawing this out? Man had nerves of steel and a masochistic streak as wide as the day was long.

Ray kicked off his boots and socks and waited. He took off his shirt, then stretched, ending up with his head resting on his arms behind him. And waited. He took off his jeans and briefs. And waited.

When Dief walked in with his hedgehog, Ray asked, "What the hell is he doing out there?" Dief looked at him, curled up on the floor, then barked. It made Ray wish he knew Dog well enough to understand whether Dief had told him or just snarked at him.

When Ray finally heard the pitter-patter of Mountie feet heading back to the bedroom, he closed his eyes and feigned sleep. Which would fool Ben for about two seconds, maybe, but could serve as a sign of Ray's displeasure. Punishment was one thing, but making him wait was just cruel.

Something obscenely soft stroking up the sole of his foot made him twitch. Ray lazily opened one eye in time to watch the feather-tipped cat toy slide up his leg, lingering a little at the sensitive underside of his knee, before traveling further up, making his breath catch. It stopped at his thigh, then Ben put the toy down next to Ray's hip.

"Oh, yer back," Ray said, sounding like the very soul of ennui. "I got bored, jerked off, and fell asleep. I have nothing left for you. Sorry."

"Such impatience ill becomes you. I wasn't gone that long." Ben had one of the pet store bags in his hand as he crouched next to the bed.

"Blah, blah, blah."

"I needed some time to think. I had some thoughts of tying you to the bed with some of the riding gear from the pet store--"

Ray couldn't help his show of enthusiasm. "Oh yeah!"

"--and telling you Inuit stories until you broke down and told me everything I wanted to know--"

"That's not buddies!"

"--but I didn't buy any of that gear since it's not designed for such uses and might hurt you. Although I was tempted by thoughts of what I could do with you and a saddle...." Ben smiled at Ray's whimper and continued, "But no, a horseman never abuses his gear in such a way. Or his partner."

"You suck."

"You're correct, Ray. I believe I proved that a few minutes ago."

"So yer torture is that yer gonna tell me all the things you could've done to me but won't?"

"That would be silly. It would torture me at least as much as it would you."

"Yer wearing too much clothing, Ben."

"I think I'm wearing just enough."

"If you don't start stripping to match me, I'm gonna, uhm, pleasure myself in front of you until you come in yer jeans."

"But then you wouldn't get what you wanted either."

"I'd recover first, Benton buddy. Hell, maybe I'd be able to fuck you later. You know what that tight ass of yers does for me." Ray shook his wrist a little to make the tag ring against his bracelet. "And you'll still never find out what this is about." Ray laughed at Ben's pout. "You need to practice that look more. Push yer lower lip out a bit more."

"I'm sorry if I haven't mastered it as well as you have."

"Was that an insult?" Ray moved his hand down his belly toward his half-hard cock.

"All right," Ben growled. He pulled his T-shirt off over his head, then slowly unzipped his jeans, playing to his appreciative audience. A little ass wiggle helped get them down. "You're being terribly selfish, Ray."

"It's yer own fault."

Ben kicked the jeans away. "How do you figure that?"

"See, you figured that if you sucked me off the instant we got in, then you'd be the one fucking me later. The problem is that yer dastardly master plan has a built-in snag." Ray laced his fingers over his stomach and grinned incandescently. "I already got mine. Took the edge off. Now I can torture the hell out of you." Ray picked up the feather-tipped cat toy and started to stroke his balls with the feathers and the side of his cock with the stick at the same time, obscenely soft against one place and hard and firm against the other. God, it felt good. His hips started to move of their own will.

Ben's gaze should have eaten Ray alive. "Cruel," he gasped.

"Smart."

"Cruel."

"Cruel," Ray finally agreed, his smile twisting.

Ben took his boxers off and put his arms out in a ta-da! gesture. "Am I naked enough for you yet?"

"You hiding anything else you can take off?"

"Ray!"

"Guess not."

"Now put. The. Cat toy. Down."

"I will when you give me something to replace it with."

Ben growled and got up on the bed, stalking toward Ray on his hands and knees. Ben's arms looked a bit reddened, but in a healthy way, not a sunburn-to-come way. Ben actually tanned nicely, but his uniform usually let the sun touch only his face and hands. Looked like the earlier slathering of sunblock had done its work well for the rest of Ben's skin today.

Then Ben pounced, making the bed rock. Another few gouges in the wall from the headboard, but Ray really didn't care at this point, not when he had Ben all over him and finally at the ragged edge of that iron control. Ben's dripping cock insistently rubbed his stomach, telling Ray that more teasing at this point would set his partner off far too early.

Time to get down to business.

"You smell like pina colada," Ray murmured against Ben's mouth. Give it up for the sunblock. "Good enough to eat."

"So do you." Ben pulled away just enough to roll a condom on.

"Give it to me fast. I'm ready." The blunt finger pushing into him was so cold it made him gasp, telling him that Ben still hadn't given up on the whole torture thing yet, but he'd never told Ben that he actually liked that little shock now and then. It sure as hell did things for him now.

A guy needed a few secrets. Maintained a little mystery.

Ben must have decided that Ray really was ready, because he immediately followed with his cock. He thrust hard and fast, exactly the way Ray wanted it. Perfect pressure, perfect sense of fullness, perfect angle. Just perfect. As the sparks of pleasure radiated through Ray's body, he wrapped his legs around his partner and pushed down into the thrusts. It had the added benefit of rubbing his cock against Ben. When he threw his head back, exposing his neck, he felt Ben suck on the skin and murmur his name.

"Ben," Ray gasped. "Since yer being so... good. I got a little gift for you."

Ben mmmmed and gave a thrust that Ray just about felt at the back of his throat. Oh yeah.

"'BP.' It stands for 'Ben's Pet,' and I'm gonna... wear it everywhere from now on. Even to work."

Ben came so hard he should have sent the bed through the wall. Ray really had no choice but to come with him, and it was like the night the lights went out in Chicago.... Ray couldn't stop grinning when he came back.

Ray had always liked the cooling down period afterward, the satisfaction running through his body, the way he and Ben would be totally entangled just breathing together, the feeling of decadent laziness, the look of his usually oh-so-proper partner mussed up and by him. Ben was really big on slow, deep, after-sex kissing too, which this time included some bracelet and wrist action. Eventually, one of them would start feeling crushed by the other and they'd start to stick together, but for now.... bliss.

They had some endless moments of bliss before Ray really needed to get out from under Ben and started to twitch. Ben got the hint and pulled off, then disappeared onto the floor beside the bed. Usually Ray could have moved over to see what was going on, but right now he really didn't feel up to it. He heard plastic rustling, which had the expected effect on his curiosity. He heard Ben murmur, "Oh, here's where the cat toy ended up."

"Uhm, what are you up to down there, Ben?"

"There's a certain justice at work here."

"Oh yeah, that tells me everything."

"I have a gift for you as well."

"You gonna let me see it?"

When Ben's head popped up into Ray's view, Ray's mouth went dry. Brown. Leather. Collar. Buckled firmly around that neck.

"Ben?" Ray squeaked.

"Yes, Ray?" The collar moved a little as he spoke.

"I hope you realize that I'm never letting you leave this bedroom again."

Ben smirked. "Understood, Ray."

*********************THE END************************

NOTE: My purple fuzzy robe lost its innocence to Morris, my (fixed, mind you) orange tabby cat.

More Viridian5 stories can be found in The Green Room at http://members.tripod.com/~drovar/viridian/
Fandoms represented: due South, Hard Core Logo, X-Files, Once a Thief, the Buffy the Vampire Slayer movie, Angel, Two Guys and a Girl (was Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place), X-Men, Doctor Who